In 1907, London, England introduced an act called the "London Cab and Stage Carriage Act", which stipulated that the turning diameter of taxis should not exceed 9 meters. At first glance, this may not seem unusual, but it is important to know that even some popular mini cars in modern times have a turning radius of about 5 meters, which means that their turning diameter is more than 10 meters. More than 100 years ago, without the support of various modern technologies, the requirements of this standard for the design of automotive products can be described as "hellish", so many mobility products were forced to withdraw from the market.
But there are people who don't believe in evil. In the second year of the Act, Mann & Overton, the predecessor of LEVC, established itself as a unique company in the field of mobility with a product that could easily meet the required turning diameters. Under the tide of electrification and intelligence, LEVC, which is undergoing the third transformation, has decided to enter a broader market space, and L380 is the first MPV product launched by LEVC. ”
LEVC, who the hell is it?
As mentioned earlier, the LEVC is not a "Nobody" without a name, nor is it a "minimum turning diameter" that exceeds regulatory standards. In fact, since the brand was founded in 1908, LEVC has been committed to leading the trend of automotive products in various eras with its unique concept of "space innovation".
In the field of automobile travel, LEVC has also pioneered a series of "space innovation" technologies such as security and privacy cabin partitions, travel opposite meeting seats, passenger luggage compartments, and hidden ramp pedals. With these technologies, LEVC has been dubbed the "Master of Space" among automotive brands and has gained a worldwide reputation. It can be said that in its 100-year history, LEVC has always explored the needs of users and redefined their needs.
Those who know the history of the LEVC brand know that this century-old brand, which is unique in "spatial design", was founded by Geely in 2006 and was 100% owned by Geely in 2013. In the past 18 years of transformation, LEVC has undergone three important transformations.
In the 1.0 stage, with the support of Geely's global resource system, LEVC has taken root in the Chinese market and started the initial market and product integration actions. In the 2.0 phase, LEVC built the UK's first electric vehicle factory in Coventry, and introduced the Volvo SPA platform to launch a series of products that sell well in the UK, the EU, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region, completing the transformation from a London taxi manufacturer to a high-end new energy taxi manufacturer.
In the 3.0 stage, in the face of the tide of electrification and intelligence, LEVC began to focus on the application and integration of Geely's global technology system, empowered product upgrades with technology, expanded from the field of commercial travel to the field of high-end private passenger vehicles, and moved quickly towards the goal of becoming a leader in zero-carbon travel technology companies. The L380 is the first blockbuster product of LEVC's above-mentioned strategy.
Does the luxury MPV market still need a new product?
In fact, the positioning of L380 can be seen from some of the product data that has been exposed so far.
With a length of more than 5.3 meters and a wheelbase of more than 3.1 meters, the L380 is available in different versions with 3-8 seats. Judging from the newly exposed interior, the seat material of L380 is made of semi-aniline leather with one million micropores per square foot, which is only assembled in millions of luxury cars such as Maybach, Rolls-Royce, and Cullinan, and the proportion of applications in the global automotive industry does not exceed 10%.
In terms of headliner material, L380 uses Alcantara imported from Italy, a high-tech "microfiber fabric" with excellent touch, and the price is 4-5 times that of ordinary suede leather fabric. In addition, in design details such as high-end PVD vacuum chrome parts and crystal knobs, the L380 is also trying to render a sense of luxury. Therefore, the L380 is positioned as a "mid-to-large luxury MPV".
However, in this market segment, whether it is evergreen products such as Mercedes-Benz V-class, or pure electric products launched by a number of new car manufacturers, there are already many products that are eyeing and eager to try. Therefore, whether the luxury MPV market still lacks such a product as L380 has become the core issue in front of LEVC. But apparently, the LEVC is ready to respond.
At the L380 design analysis meeting, Brett Boydell, the global chief designer of LEVC, said, "LEVC has never had a single accurate definition of luxury, we believe that traditional luxury is to satisfy material possession, but new luxury is to enjoy and experience a more meaningful life, and create more value for us and our loved ones." And pure luxury, it is time and space. Because no amount of money can buy time, but space allows us to have an experience, and this experience will stay with us over time, which is our greatest wealth. What can help LEVC put its understanding of luxury into practice is the "space innovation" heritage that it has always adhered to over the past century, focusing on user experience.
According to Brett Boydell's explanation, unlike the traditional MPV products in the past, the design idea of "from exterior to interior to user interface and materials" is different, the design path of L380 takes the user's experience perception and material perception as the origin, and starts with the construction of interior and space design based on this, and finally completes the exterior design and details. "Through this design approach, we can go beyond the product itself, focus on the customer's needs, ecology, lifestyle, and provide them with a systematic luxury experience. For more than a century, LEVC's products have been designed with the customer experience in mind, and the heritage of spatial innovation has been our hallmark and our way of winning. ”
The "catfish" that stirred up the luxury MPV market, on what basis is L380?
It is not shy to say that the design concept of L380 is indeed different, but how many users pay for these slightly "nihilistic" design concepts, how many can really implement them on L380 products, and how much strength does L380 have to stir up the luxury MPV market segment surrounded by wolves? The answer given by LEVC is still "space innovation", and the underlying ability to support LEVC's "space innovation" is "SOA architecture".
In fact, as early as May last year, LEVC released the world's first space-oriented all-electric SOA architecture. The SOA architecture can cover the wheelbase of 3000mm to 3800mm, the length of the vehicle from 4860mm to 5995mm, and can support different power layouts of 73~140kWh, and even meet the multiple drive forms of front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. In addition, the computing power of the SOA architecture can reach up to 1000+Tops, and it supports L2~L4 intelligent driving.
As Yu Tong, co-CTO of LEVC, said, "The ultra-large bandwidth allows LEVC to continue to expand its circle of friends and develop large and medium-sized MPVs, full-size SUVs, full-size station wagons, light touring vehicles, Minibus and other special models. ”
Powered by the SOA architecture, the L380 has created the industry's original flat floor design, making the L380's vehicle space utilization rate reach 75%, leading the industry average of 8%. Based on the flat floor design, the L380 is equipped with a 1.9-meter integrated stepless slide, which will allow the L380 to have a more coherent space height and more layout possibilities. Of course, the L380 also has a tail sinking design pioneered in the pure electric architecture, which brings 163L of luggage compartment expansion to the L380.
Based on the space design redundancy given by the SOA architecture, whether it is the cockpit, the crew compartment, or the baggage compartment of the L380, it can give users a first-class experience. The L380 is equipped with 6 private seats, which not only realizes the privacy space of each passenger, but also increases the internal passing distance between the seats to a height of 200mm, providing users with a more free and convenient access space.
The core competitiveness of L380 lies in the space design concept with user experience as the origin and the product space capability centered on user experience. From the focus of this L380 design analysis meeting, it is not difficult to find that whether it is LEVC or L380, its core purpose is to convey a voice of "luxury MPV market, I'm coming!" to the outside world. Relying on the advantages of LEVC's leading SOA architecture, L380 has created a different image of luxury MPV, redefining the understanding of "luxury" in the MPV market, and this "catfish" L380 deserves it.
As early as the unveiling of the L380, there was already an argument that "the L380 is a replacement for the Mercedes-Benz V-Class", so it is not unreasonable. The L380, which has already achieved "precedence", will also open a new era of luxury pure electric MPV with its unique LEVC design concept and differentiated product strength.